The Twin Knights
by Balancing Act
Summary: What if? Alanna doesn't go to the convent, but Thom doesn't go to the City of the Gods either. They both go to the palace.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: The characters and world belong to Tamora Pierce.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
"I don't like it," Coram growled. "Ye'll both be getting yeselves in trouble."  
  
"So?" one of the hooded figures hissed. Violet eyes peered out from under the hood. "What could they do to me?"  
  
"Ye could ruin ye'r entire life."  
  
"Coram, my entire life will be worth nothing if I go to the convent. Nothing! We can do this. And it'll change my entire life. For the better."  
  
"She's right, Coram," the other figure said, the same violet eyes glancing back at the manor. "Maude agreed. So why won't you?"  
  
"Maude's different!" Coram exploded. "Do ye know how much trouble I'll be in if ye'r father finds out?"  
  
"Father won't find out. He's buried in his books all the time. Just remember, Coram, I'm Alan and this is my twin Thom. We've been over this already."  
  
"And what about the letter ye'r father will send?"  
  
"Maude's taken care of that, you know that, Coram. She's going to catch any messenger and change the message so it doesn't give anything away. And the one we've brought with us we've already added a few things and forged the signature. Please, Coram! This could mean the way my entire life turns out!"  
  
The manservant looked for another way out. "Ye, lad, I thought you wanted to be a sorcerer. Why are you going to the palace, then?"  
  
Thom shrugged. "I don't want any teachers telling me what to do. At the palace, they have extensive libraries, where I have access to all the spells I need. I can teach myself." He grinned at his sister. "Besides, I and Alanna have to stay together."  
  
"Look, Coram," Alanna said, her violet eyes serious. "You don't have to be our manservant. You could stay at home, and be the messenger."  
  
"ARE YOU CRAZY!" exploded Coram. "Leave ye both to brave the palace by ye'rselves!"  
  
Alanna winked at Thom.  
  
"What would they think of ye'r father? What would they think of me?" Coram asked furiously, pacing.  
  
"Then what else are you going to do, Coram? Tell our father? Ruin our lives? And..." Thom paused artfully. "Go around for the rest of your life seeing spidrens following you?"  
  
Coram fought down a shudder. Then he nodded reluctantly. "I still don't like it."  
  
"But you'll do it?"  
  
"Oh, all right. I can't leave ye, and I wouldn't tell on ye to ye'r father for the world---if only because you'd get in trouble."  
  
The twins grinned at each other. 


	2. Chapter 2

_ Disclaimer: These characters and world belong to Tamora Pierce. This chapter is very similar in dialogue and events to Alanna: The First Adventure, since the plot in some instances belongs to Tamora Pierce. _

* * *

"Twins, hm?" Duke Garath leaned back in his chair, looking from one violet-eyed redhead to the other. He was an older man with a thin face and muddy brown hair. "It's been a long time since we had twins come to the palace. I can't remember any twins, actually." He nodded to the man-at-arms. "Coram Smythesson. It's been quite a while." 

"It has, yer Grace," Coram said, bowing respectfully. 

"The Battle of Joyous Forest, right?" 

Coram grinned. "Yer Grace is correct, though I don't see how ye managed to remember." 

"Someone saving your life isn't the thing that fades from memory." Duke Gareth turned back to the twins, his face now stern. "Both of you may not have the same interests, but you're here to train to be a knight and a noble. This isn't going to be some kind of child's game. You won't have fun. You won't enjoy yourself. But eight years from now, you'll either be a knight, or you'll have given up." 

Alanna and Thom exchanged nervous glances. 

"You'll be a page for the first four years here. No one here is beneath your rank, so you'll do everything: run errands, wait at table, help the nobles who request your aid. You'll learn humility and how it feels to be the underdog. You'll learn to respect the weak. When you turn fourteen, if you are ready, you will be taken on as a squire by a knight. You'll be his body squire, taking care of your knight master's belongings, run his errands, be infinitely loyal to him. You'll learn to help the weak, champion the small, defend the right. Maybe you'll even learn to distinguish what right is." His face was stern. "During all this time, you'll take lessons in fighting, reading, writing, and bookwork. Your lessons will get harder as the years go by. When you are eighteen, you take the Ordeal of Knighthood. If you survive, you'll be a Knight of Tortall. Not everyone survives." 

Alanna and Thom looked at each other again, even more nervously. 

"I lost a finger in the Chamber of the Ordeal." He sighed. "But that's in eight years from now. Right now, you'll have too much to think about to care." He looked at them again. "You'll be in the pages' wing. I guess we'll put you next to each other. Coram can be in the room off yours, Alan. I hope he'll be able to serve with the palace guard in his free time." 

Coram nodded. "I'd like to, if I could, your Grace." 

Duke Gareth smiled. "Excellent." His gaze went back to the twins. "I'll send an older page to show you around and tell you how everything works. Do the best of your ability at your studies, and you may even earn the priviledge of free time to go to the city. Remember, you both are here to train to be knights, not to have a good time." He turned to the servant, who had brought them. "Timon, take them to their rooms. Have the tailor measure them for outfits: page clothes for the twins, guardsman's uniform for Master Smythesson. You two can begin serving dinner in five days. Thom, you'll be waiting on me. Alan, you can wait on Sir Myles. Any questions?" 

"No, your Grace," Thom said. 

* * *

"I'm supposed to wear _ this_?" burst out Thom, staring at the pages' uniform, several sizes too large. 

Alanna snorted, holding up her own. "Look at this one. It could fit an elephant." 

The old tailor scowled at them. "Wear them or go naked. You'll grow into them. If you rip them, you're the one who mends them. Don't run to me about it." He turned away, muttering to himself. 

Thom raised an eyebrow at Alanna, making her laugh. 

The tailor cast a dirty glance over his shoulder at them as they walked out, the huge clothes draped over their arms. "Just what I needed," Thom said sarcastically. "A tent to wear on the first day." 

"Mine is more a tent than yours is." 

"No, it's not! Look at this! It's huge!" 

"And look at this one!" Alanna shook hers out, and dumped the rest of the clothes on Coram, holding it up to her. 

Thom studied it, then shook his own out and held it out, giving his clothes to Coram too. "They look about the same size." 

"What am I, a coatrack? Why can't ye do this in your rooms?" grumbled Coram, his arms piled high with his own uniform and the rest of their clothes. 

"Good point." Alanna snatched her clothes back. 

"Hey, those are mine!" Thom said, reaching for them. 

"No, they aren't. Those are yours." 

"They are not." 

"Yes, they are." 

"No, they aren't." 

"Yes, they are." 

"No!" 

"Yes!" 

Thom snatched the clothes out of Alanna's arms. "These are mine." 

Coram sighed. "Could ye stop arguing?" 

"Fine, fine." Alanna snatched her clothes back and ran down the hall after Timon, who was still walking. Thom chased after her, and Coram, his arms still piled high, sighed and followed. 

* * *

Thom and Alanna looked at each other. Thom examined himself critically. "I guess you can't really tell that they're too big. The colors are absolutely blinding." 

"At least we don't look like we just shrunk fifty pounds." 

"True." Thom opened the door a crack and peered out. "Maybe we should go down to dinner now." 

"Instead of standing here talking about tents?" Alanna joined him at the door. "You want to go out first?" 

Thom shook his head violently. "Not me! Why don't you go out first? You're the brave one." 

"And you're the... uh... one who knows magic." 

"What does magic have to do with this?" Thom scoffed. 

"Fine, fine," Alanna muttered. "I'm going." She stepped out in the corridor cautiously, wondering how she would have felt if Thom wasn't here. Shaking uncontrollably, probably. She caught a glimpse of boys peering at her from side corridors, and soon everyone was there, watching her. "New page," Alanna muttered to herself. "Everybody come and watch." She cast a glance back at the door for support, and saw Thom's violet eyes watching. She gave him a grin, nodding to the boys who were gathering. 

"What are you smiling at, country boy?" snarled a voice. Alanna whipped around to fix the speaker, a crooked-teethed boy with thick lips and squinting blue eyes. He had sandy blond hair that flopped everywhere. 

Alanna stared at him in disgust. "Whatever happened to the manners of Tortall's pages? Maybe I was mistaken, but it seems to me that they were supposed to learn how to be _polite_." 

The boy sneered. "Look here, country boy. You do what you're told." He grabbed her collar, lifting her off her feet. "When I speak, you say, 'yes, Lord Ralon.'" 

She gasped for breath. "I'd soon as kiss a pig!" 

"Say it!" he snarled. 

"What are you doing to my brother?" a furious voice demanded. 

Ralon took one look and shrieked, dropping Alanna. "There's two of them!" he screamed, pointing a trembling hand. 

"They're called twins, Ralon of Malven," a voice said dryly from behind them. Thom and Alanna turned as one. Standing there were five boys, one with dark hair, bright blue eyes, and an overpowering sense of command around him, another big one with curly brown hair and coal-black eyes, another dark, slender boy with silent eyes, a small, quiet boy with blond hair, and the last, the one who had spoken, had hair and eyes of a chestnut color. "Now stop bothering them." 

Ralon's face was turning a blotchy color. "You can't order me-" 

"You heard him, Malven." This time the one with the piercing blue eyes spoke. 

Ralon paused. 

"Now." 

Ralon spun and dashed out of the hallway. Thom and Alanna watched the five boys as they came up warily. 

"Twins, hm?" the one with the piercing blue eyes studied them. "So, who's who?" 

"Alan of Trebond, um..." 

"Jonathan." 

Thom raised an eyebrow slightly. "Prince Jonathan?" 

The prince nodded. "They call me that. But, please, just Jonathan." He turned his eyes to Thom. 

"Thom of Trebond, your Highness." 

Jonathan sighed. "Very well." He frowned. "Does your family attend Court?" 

"No, your Highness." They both shook their heads. "Our father doesn't like it." 

Jonathan nodded thoughtfully, then turned to introduce the others. Gareth(Gary) of Naxen, the duke's son, was the one who had spoken first. Raoul of Goldenlake was the one with the eyes of coal, Alex of Tirragen was the smaller one, who, nevertheless, was at least a head taller than the twins, and Francis of Nond was the shy blond one. When they were done, Jonathan looked around. "Who's the sponsor for these two?" There was a immediate forest of hands. "Gary, I think." He motioned the big boy forward. "Welcome to the palace, Alan and Thom of Trebond." A smile lit the prince's face. 


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: The world and characters belong to Tamora Pierce._

* * *

Alanna groaned quietly, putting her head in her hands over the heavy book filled with problems. If only she'd never heard of math! Especially this weird type that the priest had told her about. "Algebra", they called it. It made her eyes ache and her head feel like someone was pounding on it with a club. 

Thom leaned slightly over toward her, keeping his eyes on the priest, who was leaning over another page's work. "Trouble?" he murmured. 

"I hate this!" Alanna hissed. "What does this mean? Or this?" She stabbed at the book accusingly. 

Thom took the book from her. "Look, you do it like this." His quick fingers scribbled the steps across the piece of paper she had tucked in the book. She watched, with growing comprehension. "Ohhh, I get it now." She sighed. "Why are you so good at this and I'm not?" 

Thom gave her a quick grin. "Just wait till we get out on the training courts." 

Alanna started to smile. "Poor Thom. You never wanted to do this." 

"Thom and Alan of TreBOND!" 

They jumped. 

The priest scowled at them. "Kindly pay attention in class!" 

"We were-" Alanna began, but Thom clamped his hand over her mouth and said respectfully, "Yes, master." 

The priest began to drone on again, and Thom took his hand off her mouth. 

"What did you do that for?" she hissed at him. 

"Do you what they'd do to you if we talked back?" Thom whispered. "Pile on more homework than ever. Do you want that?" 

"The old bat didn't even ask why," Alanna grumbled. 

"So? I'd like to get through the first day alive, brother dear." 

"If he doesn't kill you, I will," muttered Alanna. 

"ALAN OF TREBOND! WOULD YOU KINDLY STOP TALKING!" 

* * *

Thom groaned, feeling his purpling bruises as he lay in the dust, felled by Alanna's stick. She knelt by him anxiously. "You all right?" 

"Of course," Thom answered sarcastically. "I feel as if I've been stampeded by a thousand cows, wrung out by some laundry-woman, dragged by a rope behind a horse for seventy miles... Why shouldn't I be all right?" 

"Maybe you shouldn't have come," Alanna worried. "You're not up to this." 

"As not up to this as you aren't up to algebra?" 

Alanna sighed. "That's not as bad as physical exertion." 

"Since when?" he asked. "Getting beat up gives you bruises, not being able to do work gives you stress." 

"Yes, but..." she trailed off, trying to find some way to put it. "If you can't do the physical work, you might not pass the tests to be a knight." 

He raised one coppery eyebrow. "With my dear brother for a teacher, is there any reason I shouldn't be able to improve?" 

She sighed in exasperation. "Thom! I was talking about all the extra effort on you." 

"Alan of Trebond, never kneel for an enemy! Stand up and ask him to yield!" 

Alanna looked up at the man who taught them, defiance blazing in her eyes. "On the contrary, sir, a truly noble knight kneels for anyone, even his enemy. And I'd hardly say my twin brother is my enemy, and I think he's in no shape to do anything else but yield!" 

The man's eyes narrowed. "Two hours of extra training for your impertinence, Alan. Now get up and hold him at stickpoint like the knight you're trying to be!" 

Alanna scowled darkly at him as he moved of, barking brusque commands to other pages. She looked back to her brother. 

"I'm all right," Thom said, raising himself up on his elbow. "Just very, very sore. But you shouldn't have done that. You'll get in trouble every time." 

"It was worth it," Alanna muttered, still scowling. "I wish I could take that beard of his and stuff it down his throat!" 

Thom cast a quick glance around. "Remember Lady Catherine?" 

A slow grin spread over Alanna's face. "The one who ran out of our castle after claiming it was haunted?" 

"Right. Look, it shouldn't be that hard to make those same illusions. We just need to find out where his rooms are." 

"Sounds better than screaming at him," she said. Pulling him to his feet, she gave him back his stick, and turned to watch as the teacher turned to look at them. 

"Practice is over," he announced. "We will resume this work tomorrow. Alan, stay." 

Thom gave her a rueful smile and turned to move away. She caught his shoulder and turned him to face her, worry in her eyes. "Thom, you haven't been getting much sleep lately. I can tell. You've got circles under your eyes. What have you been doing?" 

"Oh, just something I found in the library," he said carelessly. He gave her a grin, lowering his voice. "Don't fuss too much, _Alan_, or people will think you're acting like a _girl_." 

She swung her stick at his head, but he ducked and walked off, laughing. 

* * *

"Thank you, lad," Sir Myles said, leaning unsteadily on Alanna. She couldn't help smiling as she looked at the short little man, his long brown hair and beard streaked with grey. The good natured Tortallan history teacher was a favorite of all the pages, being the teacher of the only interesting class. He was famous for his oddness and, of course, being the Court drunk. She found it interesting serving him, and it had turned out not to be the tedious duty she'd thought it would be like. 

"Quiet today, aren't we, boy?" Myles asked, his large green-brown eyes turning to bore into Alanna's own. 

"It's my brother," she told him. "I'm worried about him. He isn't getting enough sleep. When I go off to be with my friends, he goes and sits in the library, and reads books, all by himself. He doesn't socialize or anything." 

"I was rather fond of going off to read in the library myself," Myles mused. 

She gave him a wry smile. "That's _you_, Sir Myles. "You love libraries." 

"And maybe he does, too," the man told her. "Twins aren't always the same, not by a long shot. You love to learn fighting and use a sword, and he's more interested in books and facts." 

"And magic," she murmured. "He always did like his Gift. I didn't use it a lot. I'm always afraid that it will get out of control. But he was always eager to learn more about using it." She sighed. "I can't even do anything to help." 

"You've been teaching him how to do the physical work better, even if he still doesn't like it," Myles said cheerfully. "That's always a good thing." 

"Yes," Alanna agreed. "He helps me with algebra, too." 

"And you're usually with Gary, Raoul, Alex, and Jonathan," Myles added. "They've helped you fit in, and adjust to being a squire. Maybe Thom just fits in another way." 

Alanna nodded slowly. "He's high up in all our book classes, and getting better. Other squires come and ask him for help, and he always gives it to them. I think he likes it. You never can tell, with Thom." She sighed. "But he wants power. I can see it in him, the discontent when he watches knights jousting or dueling. He wants to be able to be strong." 

"Maybe magic is his way of doing that, Alan," Myles told her. "The king decided against teaching the boys to use the Gift, so he has to do it on his own. That's probably why he's working harder and getting less sleep. It can't really hurt him." 

"I guess not," she consented reluctantly. 


End file.
